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Whitewater-Baldy Fire, New Mexico

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over New Mexico on June 6 at 2050 UTC (4:50 p.m. EDT) the smoke and heat from the Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire was easily detectable from the MODIS instrument onboard.

The massive quantity of smoke was blowing to the northeast. The number of hot spots detected by MODIS is about nine. The larger fire areas appear to be on the west and east sides of the wildfire. The MODIS instrument is also known as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and it can capture visible or infrared imagery.

The fire has now consumed 263,589 acres, about 13,000 more than the day before. The fire is now 30 percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service from Gila National Forest. On June 6, 2012, firefighters made successful burn out operations on the easternmost edge of the fire, according to the U.S. Forest Service. There are almost 1,000 people fighting this fire. The wildfire is located in rugged terrain and is burning timber, mixed conifer, ponderosa pine, pinon/juniper and grasses, as well as dead vegetation.

For updated information on the fire, visit Inciweb at: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2870/.

Images: NASA Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Text: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Rob Gutro